AUSTRALIA: Residents living near Holsworthy army base have mixed reactions to the foiled suicide attack

Record ID: 555870

  • Title: AUSTRALIA: Residents living near Holsworthy army base have mixed reactions to the foiled suicide attack
  • Date: 4th August 2009
  • Summary: HOLSWORTHY, NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA (AUGUST 4, 2009) (REUTERS) MILITARY VEHICLES MOVING INSIDE BARRACKS SIGN READS "HOLSWORTHY FRONT GATE - IDENTIFICATION REQUIRED" SOLDIERS INSIDE HOLSWORTHY BARRACKS TRUCKS INSIDE ARMY BARRACKS SOLDIERS STANDING NEXT TO TRUCKS (SOUNDBITE) (English) JOHN FERN, LOCAL RESIDENT, SAYING: "I'd be surprised if the way things are going today, they could do very much at Holsworthy except get caught." (SOUNDBITE) (English) GAVIN SINGLETON, LOCAL RESIDENT, SAYING: "I feel safe here, I think it is all pretty much under control now, 400 police swooped on it." (SOUNDBITE) (English) UNIDENTIFIED LOCAL RESIDENT, SAYING: "Very nervous to find out that you know, something like that, you know, could happen. Well, it could have happened if police weren't on the case about it. It is very, it is a bit scary." ARMY TRUCK DRIVING OUT OF BARRACKS
  • Embargoed: 19th August 2009 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Australia
  • Country: Australia
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,Defence / Military
  • Reuters ID: LVAETQDF8ABI74EOXJQI6CYNZP4J
  • Story Text: Australian residents living near a military base had mixed reactions on Tuesday (August 4) to the news that four men had been arrested on suspicion of planning a guerilla-style suicide attack near their homes.
    Hundreds of police raided 19 properties across the southern city of Melbourne in the early hours of Tuesday, after a seven-month investigation involving Australia's national security agency ASIO. A fifth man, in custody on other matters, was also being questioned.
    The four men were aged between 22 and 26 and were all Australian citizens, from Somali and Lebanese backgrounds, police said. One man was later charged with conspiring to plan or prepare a terrorist act.
    All were due in court later on Tuesday.
    Police said those arrested were targeting a military barrack in Holsworthy, in the suburb of Sydney.
    Some nearby residents said they felt safe, with the police on top of the situation.
    "I'd be surprised if the way things are going today, they could do very much at Holsworthy except get caught," said John Fern, a local resident.
    "I feel safe here, I think it is all pretty much under control now, 400 police swooped on it," said Gavin Singleton, another local resident.
    Other residents said the incident raised security concerns.
    "Very nervous to find out that you know, something like that, you know, could happen. Well, it could have happened if police weren't on the case about it. It is very, it is a bit scary," said an unidentified local resident.
    Officials said Australia's terrorism warning alert would remain at medium level, where it has been since 2003, but Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said the arrests showed threats remained.
    While Australia has never suffered a peacetime attack on home soil, more than 90 Australians have been killed in bomb attacks in Indonesia since 2002.
    Police believed the men were linked with al Shabaab in Somalia, a hardline militant Islamist youth group that is deeply involved in violence in war-torn Somalia.
    Analysts say al Shabaab, which figures on the United States' terrorism list, has recently had success recruiting from the Somali diaspora and other Muslim youths abroad.
    Police said they had worked with international agencies over the raids, but refused to disclose who tipped them off.
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